Chapters 10-13 Summary and Analysis

In Chapter 10, John had just left on his third trip to Asia when the supermarket in the ground floor of the apartment building exploded. Ms. Beck felt an urgency to leave the apartment, but she ignored it until her daughter saw the fire trucks in the street below. Ms. Beck dressed her daughter and herself without urgency because the building had been known to have multiple false alarms in the past. However, when Ms. Beck opened her front door, she realized the fire was real.

In Chapter 11, Ms. Beck quickly made her way to the stairwell and began to walk down ten flights of stairs. Unfortunately the smoke was especially heavy in the stairwell and Ms. Beck eventually became so weak she could go no further. Ms. Beck felt a hand urging her on, pushing her down and out...